SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Less than one week after earning his first postseason All-American honor this year, left-handed pitcher John Michael Bertrand was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team Wednesday afternoon. He is the first Irish player to earn Academic All-American honors since Brett Lilley in 2008.
“He has earned two master’s degrees at Notre Dame which is an incredible accomplishment” said head coach Link Jarrett. “He has also extended his love for Notre Dame and passion for helping others into the campus and regional community. He deserves this honor and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
In his two years at Notre Dame, he earned a master’s degree in each year. He will leave South Bend with a master’s degree in science management and a master’s in business administration.
Bertrand has once again been the leader of the Irish rotation in 2022 as he leads the team in wins (9), innings pitched (99.0), strikeouts (103) and ERA (2.27) among qualified starters. He set a career-best mark for wins and has surpassed his previous career-high in strikeouts this season. He has been the catalyst for the Irish pitching staff that has set a program best mark for strikeouts in a single season. The Irish have 569 heading into the super regional, breaking the previous record of 504 from the 2006 season. He is the first Irish pitcher to have over 100 strikeouts in a single season since David Phelps in 2007. His 104 strikeouts currently rank sixth all-time for most in a single season.
After being the first Irish pitcher to earn first team All-ACC honors in 2021, Bertrand was named to the first team once again following the 2022 regular season. He is the first Irish pitcher to earn back-to-back first team all-conference honors since Aaron Heilman won it three-straight season from 1999-02 back in the BIG EAST. Bertrand finished third in the ACC in ERA among qualified pitchers, fifth in innings pitched while the top-four had one more start than him, sixth in wins and opponent batting average and tied for seventh in strikeouts. He pitched 6.0 innings or more in 11 of his 14 starts and allowed three or fewer earned runs in 12 of his 14 starts during the regular season.
Some of his best starts of the season came against ACC opponents this season. He set a career high with 12 strikeouts in the 2-0 road win in extras over #5 Florida State. It was the first time in program history that the Seminoles were shutout in an extra inning game. He tossed a season-high 8.1 innings and did not allow an earned run in the 4-1 home win over Clemson. In the ACC Championship, Bertrand tossed 8.0 innings of scoreless work to defeat Florida State and advance the Irish to the semifinals for the first time in program history.
In the Statesboro Regional, Bertrand tossed a combined 8.2 innings over two starts. After pitching the first inning against #24 Texas Tech, he came back out to start the Regional Final against the Red Raiders on Sunday. He allowed just one run over 7.2 innings to earn his ninth victory of the season and send the Irish back to the Super Regionals.
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